Vending machine



June 21, 1938. v vc. v. VANBERGEN 5 VENDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 30, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet} ijm nfiu INVENTOR [Aaazzs/Z/waeeaew ATTORNEYS June 21, 1938. c. v. VANBERGEN VENDING MACHINE Filed 001;. 30, 1936 2 Sfieets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR P .dQm. W Mhflmunuhi T HHHH ATTORNEYS Patented June 21, 1938 VENDING MACHINE Charles V. Vanbergen, Lowfield Park, near Crawley, England Application October 30, 1936, Serial No 108,336 In Great Britain March 5, 1936 5 Claims.

This invention relates to vending machines and particularly to machines for. vending cartons of ice cream or the like from a refrigerated chamber 01' magazine constituting a part of the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide a vending machine for goods of the aforesaid character which is simple in construction and operation, and more particularly to provide new and improved means for transferring the goods from the magazine to the delivery aperture of the machine.

The invention provides a lifting device for cartons or the like stored in the magazine, the lifting device being operated by a winch which is actuated to cause the lifting device to raise a carton out of the magazine, the carton being subsequently released in position to pass to the delivery aperture of the machine and the winch drum being freed to enable the lifting device to return to its initial position.

One particular embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings where- Fig. l is a broken front elevation of a machine for vending cartons of ice cream incorporating the features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig; 3 is a plan view thereof.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is of duplex construction, having two lifting devices I and two winches 2 operated from a single electric motor 3 to deliver the cartons 4 from two refrigerated chambers'or magazines 5. The electric motor 3 which operates the machine is secured to a platform 6 carried by vertical guides I for the lifting devices and is fitted with a reduction gear 8 driving a shaft 9 to which a pin- ,ion I is keyed. This shaft also has swivelly mounted thereon a bracket II carrying a second pinion I2 in mesh with the pinion ID. The bracket H is loose to swing in either direction with. the pinions I0 and I2 constantly in mesh. Mounted on the platform 6 on opposite sides of the pinions l0 and I2 are winches 2 the cables I3 of which are attached to the lifting devices or hoists I. Each winch 2 has a gear I4 with which the pinion I2 may be brought into mesh in a manner hereinafter described.

Each hoist l consists of an inverted U-shaped bracket. I5 the depending parts l6 of which have projections [l which run in the vertical guides 1. On the inside of each depending part I6 are pivoted levers I8 which normally fall inwardly about their pivots from a vertical position to within 30 of the horizontal. On the top of each hoist I and facing inwardly is a projecting arm l9 which operates the striker 283 to be described.

A mechanism constituting a driving gear lock designated generally by the reference is mounted on a fixed member 26 between the two inside hoist guides l and comprises a central boss 21 mounted on .a pivot pin 28. Secured to the boss 21 are two horizontal arms 29 and a vertical arm 38. The latter is crank shaped as shown in Fig. 2 and engages in a recess in the bottom of the bracket H. A latch 3| for the driving gear lock 25 is suspended from a bracket 32, mounted on the fixed member 2%, as shown in Fig. 2, and a lock lever 33 on the back thereof has a pin and slot coupling with a fork 34. The latter is connected through a connecting rod 35 with a lower fork 36 which engages in the striker 20.

The striker 2Q comprises two discs 38 and 39 each having a gap til cut in its periphery and a radial slot 4! formed diametrically opposite the said gap. The discs 38 and 39 are mounted on shafts l2 and a cross pin 33 carried by the collateral parts of the lower fork 36 engages in the radial slots M of the discs as shown in Fig. 1. A tension spring 4G is located between a pin 45 projecting outwardly from the disc 39 and the shaft 42 of the other disc 36 whereby a snap action past the centres is obtained.

The ice cream cartons 4 are contained in refrigerated chambers 5 in a magazine of the form shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 whereby when they are fed in from the top they roll down to the mouth of the magazine ready to be picked up by the respective hoist l. Bell crank levers 48 constitute coin mechanism trips, one end of each lever projecting over the respective hoist I as shown in Fig. l. and the other end being attached to a latch on the coin mechanism switch (not shown).

A delivery chute 4.9 is provided to which the cartons are guided by guide rods 5!], bent forwardly at 5! to insure discharge thereof as they reach the mouth of the delivery chute. An empty sign trip 52 may also be provided at the lower end of the device in position to be engaged by the hoist when the magazine is empty. This sign trip is adapted by means (not shown) to cause an empty sign to be displayed after the last carton has been discharged.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

Assuming the machine is at rest with both hoists I at the bottom of the guides l and resting on the lowermost carton as shown in Fig. 2, the striker 20, gear lock 25 and lock latch 3| will be in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the disposition of the slots 4| in the striker discs 38 and 39 thereby throwing the forks 36 and 34 upwards to free the lock latch 3| so that the arms are free to move. With the various parts of the mechanism in the aforesaid positions and the driving gear in its neutral position a coin is inserted in one of the coin slots and this moves the motor switch to the on position, the switch being held by the aforesaid switch latch. As soon as the motor commences to turn the torque causes the loose bracket II to swing over and the pinion l2 to engage with one or other of the gears H on the respective winch 2 and to rotate the same to raise the corresponding hoist I, the pivoted levers l8 of which engage beneath and support the carton to be delivered. The motor 3 is so connected that it turns in either direction according to which switch is made, the respective switches being made by the insertion of a coin in the respective coin slots. According to which direction the inserted coin has caused the motor to turn, the bracket H swings over to one or other side in Fig. 1 to mesh with the respective gear Id. In addition to causing the pinion l2 to mesh with one of the gears M, the movement of the bracket II moves the vertical arm 30 of the gear lock 25 engaged in the slot therein to tilt it about the pivot 21. The horizontal arms 29 are thereby tilted correspondingly, the arm on the same side as the hoist being operated moving downwards as will be readily understood. The projecting arm H) on the operative hoist, due to the ascent of the latter, engages in the gap 40 of the respective disc 38 or 39 of the striker and rotates the disc. The slot M of the disc, moving downwards, draws down the pin 43, lower fork 36, connecting rod 35 and upper fork 34, whereby the latch 3| is moved into position to lock the arms 29 when they are again shifted to horizontal position by the arm l9.

The continued ascent of the hoist I carries the cartons to the mouth of the delivery chute 49 where it rolls off the levers I8. To insure the correct delivery of the carton to the chute 49 should the carton be stuck in the hoist, guide rods 50 are bent forward at 5|, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the carton is forced off the levers l8 opposite the chute 49. Immediately after the delivery of the carton to the chute 49, the projecting arm l9 strikes the lowered arm 29 of the gear lock and throws the driving pinion H into neutral position, the latch 3| falls into position due to the arms 29 having returned to a horizontal position and locks the gears in neutral position. Simultaneously the hoist strikes the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 48 of the coin mechanism trip to move the latch on the coin mechanism switch to inoperative position and the switch returns to the off position. Meanwhile the next carton has rolled from the mouth of the magazine into position to be picked up by the hoist which descends by gravity; the projecting arm IS on the descending hoist engages the striker mechanism 20 to reverse the operation previously described, thereby unlocking the gear lock 25 and leaving it ready for the motor 3 to throw the pinion l2 into mesh with one or other of the gears l4 when it is again started. The pivoted levers N3 of the hoist take up a vertical position as the latter comes opposite the carton and then fall inwardly again as soon as they have passed, the final position of the parts of the hoist being as shown at the bottom of Fig. 2. When the last carton has been removed from either magazine the horizontal part of the hoist in descending does not abut a carton and consequently descends further than if a carton were present and contacts with an empty" sign trip 52. This lowers a plate over the respective coin slot and prevents any coins being inserted until the magazine has been reloaded.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein as will be apparent to a person skilled in the art. The invention is only to be limited in accordance with the following claims when interpreted in view of the prior art.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a vending machine having a delivery aperture and a storage magazine for cartons or the like to be vended, a lifting device for said cartons comprising a hoist having means to successively remove the cartons from said magazine and to deliver the same to said delivery aperture, a winch connected to raise said lifting device, a gear driving said winch, a motor-operated driveshaft carrying a pivoted bracket, a pinion mounted on said bracket and driven by said shaft, said pinion being normally disengaged from said gear and being shiftable into driving engagement with said gear by the torque produced by rotation of said shaft, and means actuated by said lifting device at the upper limit of its path of travel to disengage said pinion from said gear and to maintain said pinion in the disengaged position, whereby the driving connection is broken and the lifting device is permitted to return by gravity to its initial position.

2. In a vending machine having a pair of de livery apertures and a pair of storage magazines for cartons or the like to be vended, a lifting device for successively removing cartons from each of said magazines and delivering the same to the respective delivery apertures, driving means including a driven gear for each of said lifting devices, a motor-operated driveshaft having a bracket pivoted thereon, a pinion mounted on said bracket and driven by said driveshaft, said pinion being normally disengaged from said driven gears and being adapted to be swung into mesh with a selected gear by the torque produced by the rotation of said driveshaft, means actuated by said lifting device to return said pinion to neutral position when said lifting device reaches the upper limit of its path of travel, means looking said pinion in neutral position during the descent of said lifting device, and means associated with said lifting device to release said look when the lifting device reaches the lower limit of its path of travel.

3. In a vending manhine having a pair of delivery apertures and a pair of storage magazines for cartons or the like to be vended, a lifting device for successively removing cartons from each of said magazines and delivering the same to the respective delivery apertures, driving means including a driven gear for each of said lifting devices, a motor-operated driveshaft having a bracket pivoted thereon, a pinion mounted on said bracket and driven by said driveshaft, said pinion being normally disengaged from said driven gears and being adapted to be swung into mesh with one or the other of said gears depending upon the direction of rotation of said driveshaft, means actuated by said lifting device at the upper limit of its path of travel to return the pinion into 15 i from each of said magazines and delivering the lifting devices, a motor-operated driveshaft havneutral position, a gear lock adapted to automatically lock said pinion in neutral position during descent of the lifting device, control means forsaid gear lock operated by said lifting devices at the lower limit of their paths of travel, said control means being engaged by a lifting device during ascent to render said gear lock operative tolock said pinioninneutral position, andbeing engaged wduring descent to release said lock whereby, the mechanism is free to operatewhen the driveshaft is again actuated.

l. In a vending machine having a pair of delivery aperturesand a pair of storage magazines for cartons or the like'to be vended, a separate lifting device for successively removing cartons same to the respective delivery apertures, driving means including a driven gear for each of said ing a bracket pivoted thereon, a pinion mounted on said bracket and driven by said driveshaft, said pinion being normally disengaged from said driven gears and being adapted to be swung into mesh with a selected gear, means comprising a vertical arm engaging said bracket and a horizontal arm connected thereto and adapted .to be engaged by either, of said lifting devices when the latter reaches the upper limit of its path of travel for returning said bracket to neutral posit tion, and means to lock said bracket in neutral position during the descent of said lifting device.

5. In a vending machine having a pair of delivery apertures and a pair of storage magazines for'cartons or the like to be vended, a separate lifting device for successively removing cartons from each of said magazines and delivering the same to the respective delivery apertures, driving means including a driven gear for each of said lifting devices, a motor-operated driveshaft having a bracket pivoted thereon, a pinion mounted on said bracket and driven by said driveshaft, said position, means to automatically lock said bracket in neutral position during descent of the lifting device and means actuated by said lifting device at the lower limit of its path of travel to release said lock. d i

' CHARLES V. VANBERGEN. 

